Film Shoot

After the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris in 2012, Guy Maddin is now setting his sights on the PHI Centre to film (and bring to life) his Séances, an entirely novel experience that will culminate in the production of a feature film coproduced by Phi Films, Buffalo Gal Pictures and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and an interactive work (NFB).

From July 4 to 20, the celebrated Manitoba director will shoot 12 films in 13 days with local actors in front of a live audience. These films will serve as the subject matter for two new productions.

Director: Guy Maddin
Co-Director: Evan Johnson
Producers: Phoebe Greenberg, Penny Mancuso, Phyllis Laing and David Christensen
Producers, Interactive Content: Alicia Smith and Dana Dansereau
Executive Producer, Interactive: Loc Dao
Executive Producers: David Christensen, Niv Fichman and Jody Shapiro
Produced with the participation of Telefilm Canada and Manitoba Film & Music.

About

Séances is a film shoot, an experience and an installation, which will subsequently become a film and an interactive work. The basic premise of Séances is that most silent filmmakers lost at least one film to a twist of fate. Ever since, these films have hovered like ghosts in search of their final resting place. And now Guy Maddin has decided to recreate these lost films. Every day, he will call on the spirits to take hold of the actors, plunging them into a deep trance that will enable them to act out the lost film of the day.

The most amazing part: the public is invited to attend these Séances of cinematic spiritualism. Cameras will be set up to transmit—live and in closed circuit—the shoot taking place inside the PHI Centre.

July 4 - Saint, Devil and Woman
Gregory Hlady, Karine Vanasse, Carole Laure, Romano Orzari and Sienna Mazzone

July 5 and 6 - The Red Wolves
Clara Furey, Roy Dupuis , Noel Burton, Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon, Kyle Gatehouse and Neil Napier

July 8 - Trumpet Island
Céline Bonnier, Clara Furey, Louis Negin, Andreas Apergis, Noel Burton, Romano Orzari and Fabrice Barrilliet

July 10 - Coney Island Flight School
Anthony Lemke, Paul Ahmarani, Marie-Sophie Roy and Louis Negin

July 11 - The Forbidden Room
Gregory Hlady, Kent McQuaid, Alex Bisping, Louis Negin, Roy Dupuis, Noel Burton and Clara Furey

July 12 - Dalagang Bukid
Clara Furey, Louis Negin, Marie Brassard and Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon

July 13 - Scout Day
Louis Negin and Matthew Comeau

July 16 - Drakula Halala
Katia Rock, Gregory Hlady, Sienna Mazzone, Romano Orzari and Deena Aziz

July 17 - Gabriella, the Lamplighter of the Harbour
Carole Laure, Sienna Mazzone, Romano Orzari, Deena Aziz, Juliette Gosselin and
Louis Negin

July 18 - Der Januskopf
Andreas Apergis, Sophie Desmarais and Louis Negin

July 19 - The Scorching Flame
Alex Bisping and Caroline Dhavernas

July 20 - Women Skeletons
Caroline Dhavernas, Paul Ahmarani, Eric Robidoux, Judith Baribeau, Lewis Furey, Victoria Diamond and Mistaya Hemmingway

About the artist

Guy Maddin is a Canadian multidisciplinary artist, screenwriter, filmmaker and producer. He has more than ten features to his credit and numerous short films. A Member of the Order of Canada and of Manitoba (his home province), Guy Maddin has won several awards for his work, including Best Canadian Feature Film at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for My Winnipeg. Guy Maddin has also collaborated with the NFB on the creation of Night Mayor, an experimental film presented at TIFF in 2009 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the NFB.

In his decision to recreate a number of lost films for the sole pleasure of the world’s cinephiles, Séances is without a doubt the most daring project of Maddin’s brilliant career. The project began in 2012 at the Centre George Pompidou in Paris where he shot 18 films. And now it continues at the PHI Centre with the shooting of 12 films in 13 days.